percentile

American  

[per-sen-tahyl, -til] / pərˈsɛn taɪl, -tɪl /

noun

1. one of the values of a variable that divides the distribution of the variable into 100 groups having equal frequencies.

   Ninety percent of the values lie at or below the ninetieth percentile, ten percent above it.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a percentile or a division of a distribution by percentiles.

percentile British  

/ pəˈsɛntaɪl /

noun

1. Also called: centile.  one of 99 actual or notional values of a variable dividing its distribution into 100 groups with equal frequencies; the 90th percentile is the value of a variable such that 90% of the relevant population is below that value

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percentile Scientific  

/ pər-sĕn′tīl′ /

1. Any of the 100 equal parts into which the range of the values of a set of data can be divided in order to show the distribution of those values. The percentile of a given value is determined by the percentage of the values that are smaller than that value. For example, a test score that is higher than 95 percent of the other scores is in the 95th percentile.

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Etymology

Origin of percentile

First recorded in 1880–85; percent + -ile

Compare meaning

How does percentile compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• quantile vs. percentile

Explanation

A percentile is a way of comparing or ranking a set of data, usually people's test scores. Typically, the lowest reported percentile is the 1st, and the highest is the 99th. To calculate a percentile, all the values (e.g., test scores) are ordered from lowest to highest, divided into groups, and compared on a 100-point scale. The 50th percentile represents the median score; half the scores are lower, and half the scores are higher. If you rank in the 85th percentile, that means you scored equal to or better than 85 percent of the test takers. Good for you! It does not mean, however, that you got 85 percent of the questions correct. A percentile is a comparative ranking only, so it depends on how other people scored on the test, too.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

percentile

On the assumption that the non-surviving portfolios were behind the market when they went out of existence, the Vanguard 500 Index fund’s performance rank among the newsletters is at the 92nd percentile.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

His percentile for possession won in the attacking third was 88th among the Opta striker sample, compared with Watkins' 43rd.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

So we reach for proxies: hours of sleep, number of words said, percentile growth chart.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

UC sets the line at the 30th percentile of California household income, recalculating each year using U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

He fell in love with the fact that his Termites were at the absolute pinnacle of the intellectual scale—at the ninety-ninth percentile of the ninety-ninth percentile—without realizing how little that seemingly extraordinary fact meant.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell